You’d be hard-pressed to find a fiercer Twitter debate than one about the future of the Web. For every Web3 evangelist with a wallet full of Bored Apes, there’s a hater who thinks we’re all screwed. Which side are you on?
Web3
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S T A R T
Five Reasons to Welcome/Fear the Buzzy Future of the Internet
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Web3 can be described most succinctly as a decentralized version of the Internet built upon the blockchain, a digitally-distributed, decentralized ledger. This technology can facilitate a transaction and track an asset, sort of like a digital receipt. The blockchain underpins cryptocurrencies, non-fungible tokens (NFTs), and decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs). Web3 stans see great potential for users to monetize their online activity like never before, as well as a more private, secure future. Skeptics see nothing but a dangerous, unstable fad that’s ruining the planet and ultimately only benefitting the elite. Okay, let’s get to the fight. Ding ding!
But first, let’s take a step back. What is Web3, exactly?
N E X T
B A C K
1. Will Web3 Revolutionize the Internet?
2. Will Web3 Help Save Civilization?
3. Will Web3 Democratize Tech?
4. Will Web3 Free Users from Meddling Overlords?
5. Will Web3 Make Collecting Cool Again?
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back
Web 1.0 was mostly about searching for and reading information broadcasted by brands or businesses. Web 2.0 allowed everyday Internet users to create and distribute their own content, but the primary beneficiaries of that content were the Big Tech companies that hosted the material, and not the individuals themselves. (Just ask any YouTuber with millions of views and $300 to show for it.) The most exciting part of Web3 lies in its potential. What can we create? How can we share it with others, and make a living in the process? It’s a brand new, decentralized playing field for the common man!
Web3 will be a leveled new playing field.
You know when people got excited about democratized tech? Web 2.0! Big Tech platforms made it easier than ever for the Average Joe to cultivate a massive following online, but the excitement around that revolution only lasted a couple of years, fading after people realized these platforms did some stuff that was evil. Are we sure that Web3 will be as decentralized as people say? Some of the big investors in Web3, like VC firm Andreesen Horowitz, are the same players as those that invested in Web 2.0. Jack Dorsey described Web3 as “a centralized entity with a different label.” Let’s pump the brakes on the “new playing field” thing.
Web3 is just a new name for the same game.
Will Web3 Revolutionize the Internet?
Question 1
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Question 2
Will Web3 Help Save Civilization?
“Fortune favors the brave,” Matt Damon says in a recent crypto ad, and the old adage definitely applies here. The Internet of the future will facilitate exciting new ventures that are perfect for those willing to take risks of all kinds. Whether they create their own projects or invest in the projects of others, talented people with strong convictions will reap the benefits of this 21st century gold rush. Web3 could act as an incubator for great ideas, and we could really use those ideas now.
Web3 will reward the bold and save us all.
Blockchain tech might make some people rich, but more likely, it’ll consume so much energy that it ruins life on earth. According to a report from MoneySuperMarket, every single Bitcoin transaction consumes over $100 in electricity (and there have been between 200,000 and 400,000 transactions per day since 2017). The report says that the 1,173 kilowatt hours of electricity required for one Bitcoin transaction would be enough to power the typical American home for six weeks! But go ahead, send $BTC to the moon—the human race might be joining it up there shortly.
Web3 will speed up the planet’s demise.
Will Web3 Democratize Tech?
Question 3
Big Tech squeezes nearly every drop out of creators, and it’s about time we did something about it. The take fees for creators and artists on platforms like Spotify or YouTube make it nearly impossible to generate any profit. Web3 will give the power back to the individuals, taking it away from the selfish behemoths that have propped themselves up on the backs of individual labor. On Mirror.xyz, a Web3 publishing tool, writers can be paid in a number of unique ways, including minting their writing as NFTs. This is a revolution, one that’s been a long time coming.
Web3 is egalitarian; anyone can play!
Research by blockchain analytics platform Moonstream showed that over 80% of NFTs listed on Ethereum are owned by just a handful of “crypto whales,” super-early, hyper-active users in the space. Turns out that NFTs are a lot less democratized than we thought, and the space might just mirror what’s happened over the past few hundred years with real money. So are we sure that Web3 will really be democratized, or are Web3 believers just looking to reshuffle the financial deck in the hopes that they get placed up top this time?
Web3 is where the rich will get richer.
Will Web3 Free Users from Meddling Overlords?
Question 4
You already know you’re being followed on the Internet, no matter where you’re going or what you’re doing. Nothing you do on the Web is truly private, and every website is gathering your data. Many are even selling it to third parties for profit. Web3 will be a decentralized, protected utopia, safe from the prying eyes of Big Tech. Its users will be entitled to more transparency, privacy, and security than ever before.
Web3 will liberate us from Big Tech’s meddling!
When the owner of 16 NFTs complained to the marketplace OpenSea that his account was hacked, OpenSea stepped in to freeze his stolen tokens, saving his precious pixelated primates. Odysee, a Web3 video hosting platform, boasts of being unable to remove any video published on its platform… unless it doesn’t conform with its lengthy community guidelines. Crypto bros love to talk decentralization, hyping up a free Internet with no moderation. But when there’s money on the line, you can bet a moderator is going to step in. Anyone who claims otherwise is either lying or delusional.
Web3 ain’t exactly the Wild West.
Will Web3 Make Collecting Cool Again?
Question 5
People collect all kinds of stuff—baseball cards, stamps, bottles of wine, autographs. What makes collecting virtual items, like a piece of digital art, any different than collecting physical items? If anything, digital collectibles are easier to store, easier to sell, and easier to appreciate than their physical counterparts. They can be carried anywhere, at any time, with totally secure proof of ownership and authenticity. So much of our lives occur online, and it’s about time that this timeless hobby got a 21st-century glow up.
Web3 allows for digital collectibles.
People collect all kinds of stuff—baseball cards, stamps, bottles of wine, autographs. You know what makes those things different from NFTs? They’re real! You can pick them up, feel them in your hands. If the item originally belonged to a person of note, you know that it was once in their hands, too. If your phone dies or if you forget your account password, those physical collectible items are still right where you left them. The only thing that makes most of your precious NFTs worth anything is the speculation that some other fool might buy that useless digital image for more than you paid.
Web3 allows for digital collectibles?
